


Partners

by TheCookieNerd



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Dib is your bff, F!Reader - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gaz is still best girl, Humor, Reader is really short, Short & Sweet, Shorter than Zim, Some limes too, You guys are only getting a taste of smutty stuff in this, Zim is a cutie pie, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-09-29 20:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20441945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCookieNerd/pseuds/TheCookieNerd
Summary: It's your last year in high skool and Zim is your partner in chemistry class. While dealing with projects and college applications, you deal with his odd way of expressing his feelings towards you. And Zim realizes that not all humans are dumb and disgusting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I was actually inspired by another fanfic on AO3 called Alien Rollercoaster Ride by Sleepy Smutty Godzilla. It's really good and heightened the small crush I had on Zim when the show first came on. (I hope I'm not the only one.) It is smutty so unlike this story, I won't really do smut. I'm just interested more in the fluffy parts with Zim. But I will do it if this gets popular or if you guys wanna read it.
> 
> Plus, Enter the Florpus had made me go back to the original series, which made me wanna write this fic more.

“NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Zim cried out as you walked inside the chemistry lab. He went down on his knees, slamming his fists on the floor like a toddler. Everyone noticed his tantrum but you were the only one to confront him about it.

“What’s wrong?”

“We have _ lab partners _.” Zim hissed at the board. “Working with you all is madness and suffering!” As he cried, you looked at the board and saw your name next to Zim’s. 

“Calm down, you’re working with me.” You sighed, not fazed by his usual behavior as you sat down.

“Oh.” Zim quickly got up, “You’re less disgusting than these other _ monkeys. _” He sat next to you, forgetting about the ruckus he just made. At least chemistry will provide some excitement. For your last year in high skool, you didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of hard or boring classes while you got ready for college. With Zim being there, he could make your experience easier. Or a hell of a lot worse. 

Each day was different. Zim either blew up the lab or made a student get sick with one of his creations. The teacher, Mr. Zinc, didn’t care as long as you cleaned up after yourselves. Nevertheless, you and Zim got A’s, even after the two of you gave a student explosive diarrhea. 

Zim was so creative with his experiments. Dib told you that Zim was taking a break from trying to enslave the world, but that was five years ago. All of the ideas he had, transferred into chemistry class. One time, he was making a concoction to give someone enough sugar compared to 100 donuts. 

“That could give someone diabetes. Or even kill them.” You stared at the bubbling formula. 

“Nonsense, y/n-worm! I shall _ drink _it and satisfy my sugar intake!” He got up on the table and laughed for a few minutes. A random lightning strike startled you as he kept going, tongue out and zipper-like teeth showing to the entire class. You watched him drink the pink substance at a safe distance, just in case he exploded or something.

“See? And you inferred that something would ha--” Zim’s body quickly sprouted an array of zits, decorating his skin like berries on a bush. The disguised alien screamed and ran out of the room in horror. You shake your head, knowing that your instincts were right. But you got an A so no harm done.

After class, you went to his house to check up on him. You’re assumed that he left skool since he wasn’t there with Dib, Gaz, and you at the cafeteria. And when you told Dib about the incident, he laughed his ass off. The least you could do was check on him.

You walked past his creepy garden gnomes before ringing the doorbell. You rolled on the balls of your feet as Gir opened the door, dressed in his dog suit. 

“Y/N!” He jumped for joy when he saw you, leaping in your arms and hugging you. “Did you bring tacos?”

“No, not this time.” You walked inside, shutting the door with your foot. “Where’s Zim? Is he home?”

  
“He’s putting cream on his face.” Gir sat on your shoulder, stroking your hair affectionately. 

“Can you take me to him, please?”

Gir nodded as he led you to the elevator/toilet in the kitchen. Down and down you went to Zim’s laboratory. An upbeat melody played as you and Gir bopped your heads to it. 

As the door opened, you saw Zim working hard in the lab, not looking up once.

“Master!” Gir ran towards him, “You have a visitor.”

“How many times must I tell you to stop letting the enemy into our BASE?” Zim shouted before turning his chair towards you. “Oh, y/n-filth. What do you want?”

You could see his splotchy skin and the failed attempts of cream all over his workbench. You did your best to hide in your laughter as you bite your lip, looking away. 

“I just wanted to see if you were okay. And to drop off some homework.” You set some papers down on his desk before leaning against it. “Looks like getting rid of the pimples were a success.” You covered your mouth, still making an effort to try and hide your laughter.

Zim glared at you, turning his back towards you as he started working. 

“Go away. You’re ruining the process.” He shooed, head still in his work. 

You ignored Zim as you peered behind him, looking at the mixed substances. Some were bubbling while a few were melting a part of the desk and floor. 

"If you're creating a cream, why not add toothpaste? I often use it when I get pimples and it works." Even though Zim mainly does all the work in chemistry, you actually had a knack of chemicals and elements, knowing what is safe and what's not. You used to mix chemicals yourself when you were younger. Often, you tested your experiments on flowers to see how it affected them. And you usually got some weird results.

Like accidentally creating a plant monstrosity that knocked people out with its pheromones.

Zim growled, getting out of his chair and pushing you to the elevator. “I don’t need some _ human _ helping _ me _ in what I have been doing for _ years _.” You scoffed, rolling your eyes. 

“Yeah okay. Just come to skool tomorrow please, we got another assignment.” The elevator shut behind you and launched you back up to the top floor. You let yourself out, annoyed at how stubborn Zim could be at times. 

**

After kicking you out, Zim mumbled as he walked back to his workstation.

“How can _ she _ , that filthy _ human _aid me in my important research!” He grumbled, looking at his face in one of the tv screens, the pimples getting worse. None of his experiments were working and Gir wasn’t much help either. Zim glanced at the robot, who was currently wrestling with a pig. Who knows where he got the pig from?

Zim paused, looking back at the elevator you just left from. 

“Computer!”

“Ugh, what now?” The computer groaned.

“Give me a list of what's in this..._ toothpaste _.” Zim plopped down on his chair, “The earth filth is probably wrong, but I want to walk in and prove how incapable she is.” He maniacally laughed before getting back to work. 

** 

You tapped your pencil against your notebook, waiting for Zim to show up to class. You didn’t get to see him earlier this morning but hopefully, he solved his zit dilemma. There was a 50/50 chance he actually solved his problem or that he “solved” it by making the situation worse. 

Either way, you didn’t want a zero for the day so he better show up.

One minute until class starts and Zim walks in with a normal face. He doesn’t look at you, even when he takes his seat. His skin looked cleaner than usual and a bit shiny. Whatever he did, worked well.

“It appears you were right, y/n-monkey.” He said, folding his arms. “The toothpaste ingredients did work after all.” Zim still didn’t make eye contact, but you knew that his pride was deflated after getting help from your kind. And actually being right. 

You grinned, doing your best not to gloat. “Awesome. Your skin looks nice, by the way.” You leaned in, observing the smooth skin. The cream he used did wonders in exfoliating after getting rid of pimples. You were tempted to ask him for some yourself. He glanced at you just in time to see how close you were. A small blush crept on his face as he quickly put his head down. You poked his cheek with a pencil, snickering at the blush you’ve never seen before. Come to think of it, you didn’t think Zim could blush. But it was...cute.

After that incident, Zim actually let you participate more with him in class. Deadly chemicals were still involved, but he asked for your opinion. At first, it was through annoyance, but after successful attempts, they became genuine. As genuine as possible. He still gave you insults, however. 

A funny feeling stirred in your chest. You didn’t know what came over you and you thought you might’ve been coming down with a cold. But that happened a few times in class. When you worked with Zim. 

You should be focused on graduating, not on some alien that may or may not still be plotting to enslave Earth. That’s a lot of drama for someone who wants to get into a good college.

So to distract yourself from the increasing thoughts of Zim, you went over to Dib’s house to watch Mysterious Mysteries. Dib greeted you when you knocked on the door, leading you inside.

“Ready to watch the new episode?” Dib hopped on the couch in excitement. 

“Yeah. I’m hoping they finally talk about zombies.” You jumped on the couch, receiving a bag of chips from him. “I need to see what chemicals are contributed to making a virus for the zombie apocalypse.” Not that you were going to make a virus yourself. 

“Ooh, zombie dogs.” Dib gasped, “Or maybe...zombie cats!”

You laughed, stuffing your face with junk. Obviously you had been friends with Dib ever since you were little. Dib was more into the paranormal, of course, but you were interested to a certain degree. When Zim came along, you would go along with Dib sometimes when he wanted to infiltrate the alien’s house. Mainly because you were bored and you thought Zim was intriguing when you first saw him.

Dib had gotten taller as you grew up. He was reaching 6 feet, being much taller than Zim. The latter had only grown up to barely being 5’5. Dib was looking more like his father everyday. You had to do a double-take each time you saw Dib and Professor Membrane together. 

“Man, it’s odd that I haven’t seen Zim plotting something,” Dib said, frowning a little. “It’s not natural.”

“Be glad you’re not stalking him through your room again.” You pointed out, “Getting a little too old for that.”

“At that time he was still trying to enslave Earth. Now I don’t know what to do...”

“Aww, just go back to finding out if one of our teachers is a werewolf.” You playfully pushed him.

“Hmm, she is hairier than usual…” Dib scratched his chin in thought before lighting up as Mysterious Mysteries came on the tv. Both of you relaxed on the couch, not wanting to leave from that spot until the show was over. 

**

You hugged Dib as you took your leave. Your house was a block away from his house so walking home wasn’t a problem. Since you lived not too far from Zim, you refrained from walking to his house instead. His weird, green and purple house that had no sense of an appealing color scheme. 

All of your will constraining you to make sure you don’t go up to Zim’s house and wonder what he was doing. Just to see his face. His cute, green face. 

“Ugh!” You slapped your cheeks before running to your house. You told yourself that you wanted to not think about Zim. Having a crush was dumb. And Zim was crazy, wanting to enslave the world in unsuccessful ways. Why do you have to like him?

As you reached your doorstep, you felt the ground shake. You held on to the door frame as the ground shook violently. Your legs stopped working, making you fall to the ground. A strong smell of cheese hit your nose. Too strong that you pinched your nose in disgust. 

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Zim sped past you, screaming and waking up the whole neighborhood. Your brows furrowed in question before seeing this giant monster, made of cheese, chase him down the street. Cheese dripped off of it along with pepperoni and mushrooms. Gir wasn’t too far behind, mouth salivating as he wanted to take a bite of the monster. 

Never a dull moment with Zim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic won't be too long because I just started my third year in uni and I don't have time to long, drawn-out fics. I don't know how short it will be though.
> 
> Let me know if you guys liked it! I'm writing this for fun but if you see an error, let me know <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You start to hang out with Zim outside of skool. Odd, but you end up enjoying yourself. And his presence.

You never thought that you would be attacked by a pizza monster, covered in cheese, and spraying said monster with a hose. The ten feet tall monster melted down the storm drain. Gir plopped down, disappointed that he didn’t get to eat more when he had the chance. 

“It should’ve been meeeeeeee!” Gir cried.

Zim came out from behind a trash can, dusting himself off and grinning. “Well, that was..._ exciting _ .” You glared at him before aiming the hose at his head. “No! Water is my _ enemyyyy _!” Zim cowered before you. Every bone in your body wanted you to pull the trigger, but you dropped the hose. 

“Next time, bring the monster closer to Dib’s house.” You grumbled, walking to your home. You needed a long shower. 

The next day you were still a little annoyed at Zim as you sat in class, wanting to finish your work as quickly as possible. He seemed to notice how annoyed you were as you didn’t answer his annoying question about mixing mercury with dish soap. “Why are you angry at me?”

“Mm, you brought a monster to my house.” You said as you wrote down notes in your notebook. “And got cheese all over me.” You could still smell the old cheese on yourself a little, but not as bad as before.

“Technically, I didn’t bring the monster over. He...followed me…” Zim twiddled his fingers as he nervously chuckled. “And I was trying to bring it over to the stupid Dib’s home, but you were in the way.” 

You were two seconds away from grabbing the nearest spray bottle and spraying him with water. Just to see him writhe in pain. 

“_But,_ I do need your help after skool…” He admitted, not looking at you when you perked up in curiosity. 

“Really? The _ Mighty _ Zim needs the _ Illustrious _y/n’s help?” 

Zim nodded. You hummed as you pretended to think about it but you had already come up with an answer. “Yeah, I’m in. Just don’t get me covered in cheese again.”

** 

After school, you got into Zim’s ship, which was disguised as a car. He didn’t do a great job as you could still see the rocket boosters and the “car” was floating. Back then, you remembered his ship being small as well. There was only enough space for one person, maybe two. You noticed that the ship got larger with enough seats for at least four people. And no seatbelts. 

Zim zoomed off, making you grip the seat in fear. He knew how to drive his ship but he did have a long history of crashing it. You couldn’t relax until you got to his house. And even then, your heart was still beating against your chest when you stepped out. 

“I think my life flashed before my eyes.” You clutched your shirt, taking deep breaths to calm yourself.

“Ha, I knew you couldn’t stand being in my ship.”

“No, you can’t drive.” You rolled your eyes, following him in his house to his lab. You set your backpack down by a table before having him lead you to his workbench. He allowed you to look through his microscope and you saw cheese from the monster last night. 

“I want to develop a resistance to your human pizza, so I can rub it in the Dib’s face!” Zim declared, “But my efforts alone are going slow and I need your _ help _ .” He frowned. “You’re competent and you’re not _ as _ dumb as some of the earth monkeys.” You gasped, feeling honored that Zim came to you in a time of need. A scientific need. 

“You came to the right lady.” You winked. A blush appeared on Zim’s face that he tried to hide, going to work on the other side of the lab. 

**

Zim didn't want to admit the real reason why he invited you. Which was to spend time with you. Since being partnered up in chemistry and proving your skills with the pimple incident, he had taken a fascination towards you. And that fascination grew when you helped destroy the pizza monster. That he created.

He enjoyed being near you, an odd feeling in his squeedlyspooch occurring just when you looked at him. At first, he thought he was going to die, but research told him that he was experiencing adoration. Or having a crush". 

A human feeling that somehow transferred to his Irken biology. That’s also why he kept blushing. He didn't want to destroy you. Zim thought about it but realized that he would just have the idiot Dib to fuss with. And he hated fighting all the time.

He had a whole list of things to keep you near him for months, years if he was successful. Zim knew you were smart but hopefully not that smart to find out his plan.

**

Almost everyday you had been over Zim's house. Almost. You still had nights to watch Mysteries Mysteries with Dib. Zim was annoyed by that but at least you were still at his house until your curfew. Together, you performed experiments and squeezed in some homework along the way. You regularly checked up on your parents, letting them know everything that was going on as they asked you to.

The situation was weird to you. All this time, Zim had never paid any real attention to you when you were young. Until high skool, you were completely ignored in Zim’s eyes. Now he's all over you.

You had yourself examined at Dib’s house one night, wondering if there was something in you that made Zim interested in you. A bug, a certain organ that you didn't know about. But Dib couldn’t find anything, not a single trace of anything “Zim” related. 

Maybe it was the way you smelled? You wore perfume but not too much where the scent was overpowering. You would’ve got the hint if countless people walked by you and started coughing their lungs out. So that wasn’t why.

What could it be?

“Class, don’t forget about your chemistry projects due next week.” Mr. Zinc droned on, “Remember to create a non-lethal substance,” he eyed Zim and you when he said that, “to show to the class. This will be on your midterm grade and could help you pass, or fail if you’re not careful.”

“Shit…” You cursed under your breath. You had forgotten about the project assigned a few weeks back. You were too busy helping Zim out that you had missed doing the actual project. Before you headed to lunch, you pulled Zim aside in the hallway.

“What is it, _ y/n _?” Zim huffed.

“It’s clear that we both forgot about the project due next week.” You sighed, facepalming. 

“It’s no big deal, I can pull out that chemical that turns anyone into a savage beast.” He flashed his teeth and playfully clawed at you.

“No, it can’t be lethal, remember?” 

“Not like you humans would know the difference.” He waved his hand away. 

“But I’m trying not to fail so I’m coming over. We can brainstorm ideas and hopefully finish this in a day or two.” You said, pulling Zim to the cafeteria.

**

You and Zim had spent almost four hours watching Gir spin around in a chair. The two of you couldn’t really figure out a non-lethal substance for class. That said a lot about your characters. 

Zim suggested they use his pizza resistance mixture but you turned it down as you wanted to do something different. You didn’t want to cheat the system and that project was personal, not for class.

Trying to come up with ideas was getting nowhere, so you asked Gir to bring you all sandwiches. Your stomach growled, remembering that you didn’t eat that much during lunch. Your eyes landed on Zim, who was banging his head against the wall as he couldn’t think of anything. You tilted your head and realized that he was still in his human disguise. All of the times you came over, he never took it off.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable?” You asked. 

“Huh?” He stopped, “Uncomfortable? From what?”

“Wearing that wig and those contacts. You never took them off when I come over. And I’ve been here a lot.”

Zim rubbed his hands, eyes darting around as he tried to form a response. “Despite our companionship, your eyes cannot handle my true form.” He boasted as you rolled your eyes with a smile.

“I’ve seen you in your form before, Zim. You still look cute with or without your disguise.”

  
“Don’t call me cute!” He screamed. “You only like me in my human disguise!” Zim pointed at you, making you frown at the accusation. 

“No, I don’t.” You walked over to him. Zim froze in his place as you took in the small height difference. He was short, but still a little taller than you. You didn’t have to strain your neck to look at him like with Dib. Your eyes glanced at his wig. “May I?” 

Zim’s cheeks changed color as he glanced away. “Fine, if you’re so keen on revealing my identity.”

“We’re at your house.” You giggled before taking his wig off. His antennae popped out, moving around to get acclimated of not getting squashed by faux hair. Zim proceeded to take off his lenses, blinking a few times.

“See? Isn’t that better?”

A soft smile appeared on Zim’s face, “Much better, actually.” 

You noticed how close you two were, but you didn’t make an effort to pull away. Neither did Zim, which shocked you. An idea occurred but you weren’t sure how Zim was going to react to it. Taking a risk, you reached your hand out, aiming to touch his face but instead went to his tunic. You straightened it out a little, blushing.

“That was bothering me.” You lied, pulling away. Zim’s antennae downcast as if he was disappointed. Disappointed about what?

Suddenly, Gir ran back down to the lab, soaking wet. “It’s raining!” The robot shrieked, running around the room. 

“Rain? WATER?” Zim gasped before running around the room with Gir. You knew that the alien hated water, but he was taking this a bit too far. 

“I’m pretty sure it's not raining _ that _ bad.” You reassured.

Turns out, you were wrong. As soon as you open the front door, a gust of wind slapped your face. Heavy rain attacked the house, winds blowing the trees around and knocking over trash cans. You quickly closed the door, your clothes were soaked.

“Okay, I can’t walk in that.”

“The _rain,_ it is evil!” Zim peered from the couch arm, shaking with fear. You looked at your phone and saw a hurricane warning for the whole weekend. The news advised everyone to stay inside until the storm cleared up. 

“Welp, looks like I’m staying here for the weekend.” You plopped down on the couch next to Gir. 

“Eh?” Zim perked up, “You have to stay here? For the weekend?”

“Yep! I just told my parents about it so everything is ok.” You gave him a thumbs up after you sent the text. Meanwhile, Zim was shaking and you couldn’t tell if it was from fear or something else. This way, you and Zim could work on projects all night and not be disturbed. His house was...different, but you could make it work.

“You okay?” You asked. 

“Okay? The Great Zim is more than okay!” He shouted. “Now we can work non stop until our eyeballs fall off!” Zim laughed, Gir chiming in too.

“I don’t know about you, but I do need to get at least 6 hours of sleep.” You noted, “I can’t stay up, although I wish I could…” A lightbulb went off in your brain. “Wait! We can create a liquid that gives you more energy! Better than caffeine and doesn’t make you crash as hard as energy drinks.” You squeaked at the idea, shaking Zim with excitement as you finally came up with an interesting (and not dangerous) experiment.

“Don’t make me sick, y/n-worm!” He pulled away. “We shall make this _ drink _ before the chemistry class.” Zim dusted himself off. 

  
“Yay! We get to have a sleepover, Gir!”

“A SLEEPOVER?” Gir perked up, “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!” The robot ran to the kitchen and jumped in the toilet, his scream resonating at he went down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy to see that so many people like my story! And I just posted this yesterday! Good thing I had already written chapter two. 
> 
> I'll only be updating on the weekends though. Depends on how many chapters I get done, I may update twice. But like I said, this story is short and I don't want to make you guys suffer from a long break. Let me know what you think of this one! And I think you guys will enjoy the next chapter :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hurricane's come to town and you're stuck in Zim's house for the weekend.

Zim’s house wasn’t really a house. His toilet, that functions as an elevator, was in the kitchen. There was only a fridge and you were sure that there wasn’t any food that you could eat. You didn’t think there was a bathroom either, not seeing it during the times you came over. And you knew that Zim didn’t have a bedroom. Dib told you that he rarely sleeps.

So being stuck at his house made you worry a little. You couldn’t go outside to get food and what if you had to use the bathroom? Plus, the couch in the living room wasn’t comfortable enough to sleep on. 

All of these problems bothered you which made you stop working on planning the project. Zim, who was sitting across from you, frowned at you.

“Why did you stop?”

“Uh, what am I going to eat? I didn’t necessarily bring any snacks when I came over.” You asked. 

“Gir has a supply of all of the foods you humans eat.” Zim quickly said.

“Okay, but how am I supposed to use the bathroom? Take a shower? Sleep?”

Zim opened his mouth to speak but paused when he realized you were right. “Do you _ have _to do those things?” He groaned.

“Yes, if I’m supposed to be here for the weekend.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Can’t you just hold it in?” 

“Hold in my bladder? Keep my eyes open so I don’t fall asleep? No, I can’t.” You huffed, getting off the floor to sit on the couch. You didn’t feel like working with him at the moment. Zim was selfish and you forgot how annoying he could be. "Let’s not work on this right now. I need a break.”

"Want some chicken nuggets?" Gir jumped on you, "We could have chicken nuggets!"

Your stomach growled before you could respond. Gir took that as a yes, "CHICKEN NUGGETS!" He ran into the kitchen before bringing back a huge bucket filled with the nuggets. You didn't ask where he got them in fear of losing your appetite. So you munched on them, watching Angry Monkey.

Zim had left in the process of Gir getting chicken nuggets, probably going to work on the project some more on his own. You hoped that he wasn't gonna finish the project without you as the assignment was a group effort. Even though you worried, you had become one with the couch. The furniture wasn't good for sleeping but did help in making sure you watch tv all day.

And Gir didn't help as he brought you more food to eat. 

Eight episodes of Angry Monkey in and Computer called. "Human, the idiot wants you to go down to the lab. Now." It sighed.

You groaned, lazily blinking your eyes. "Oh, okay." Your body slid off the couch, the laziness taking over you. Curse those damn nuggets. Down to the lab you went and you looked around for your partner. 

"Zim?" You called but no answer. Instead, Gir came down in a flash, giggling as he went up to you. 

"He...wanted me to...distract you." The robot kept giggling. You raised a brow.

"Why? What's he doing?"

"Uh...I don't know. BUT LOOK AT THIS!" Gir put on his dog suit and started dancing. "Do do do, do di do." He sang while shaking his butt and waving his tiny arms. Okay, the dance was adorable.

Not long after, you the walls started to vibrate. Small pieces of debris fell from the ceiling as you looked up. Gir was still doing his dance, completely oblivious to the sudden change. 

“Should I even ask what’s going on up there?”

“Nope!” Gir said as he did the moonwalk. 

The elevator door opened as he walked in, hands behind his back and head held high. You looked at him, confused. What did he do this time?

“Y/N pig. I decided to not kick you out and leave you to the cursed rain.” Zim puffed out his chest, “Instead, I gave you decent accommodations to quit your complaining. FOLLOW _ me. _” He led you back upstairs, stopped at the living room, only to see stairs on the left side of the door. You didn’t know that Zim had another floor. There, you entered an entire bedroom. A queen-sized bed with end tables on each side. An odd-shaped lamp in the corner, a dresser, and closet along with another door to your right. 

Zim didn’t look at you as you observed the room but pointed to the door as an invitation to look inside. You did just that and saw a large bathroom filled with a shower, a toilet that works like an actual toilet, a sink, and a large mirror.

“Holy shit, is this for me?” You asked while peeking your head out of the bathroom.

Zim folded his arms. “Are you happy with it? I don’t care if you’re not.”

“Then why did you ask?” You grinned. Zim said nothing, another blush appearing. “But thank you.” You scooped him up in a hug, making sure he knows how grateful you are. Zim barely fought your grasp before standing there, letting you hug him. 

“Don’t tell anyone that I was nice to you.” Zim huffed, “It’ll ruin my reputation of being your alien overlord.” You stuck your tongue out at him.

“Then I’ll tell everyone. _ Especially _ Dib.” You giggled.

“** _Not the Dib._ **” He growled, making his hands with a fist.

“_ The Dib shall know. _” You mocked his voice before snickering, letting go of him. 

“Don’t complain to me about your human needs anymore.” Zim started to leave, but you stopped him. Something came over you as you kissed his cheek. Zim froze as you backed away, biting your lip. It was your turn to not make eye contact as you felt Zim’s eyes on you. When you glanced up, he touched his cheek, eyes wide as he walked down the stairs, only to fall down them and cry in pain.

“Oh, why did I do that?”

**

You went downstairs after taking a shower, dressed in a nightgown that looked awfully like Zim’s tunic while wearing a pair of black slippers he provided for you. Gir was there, eating nachos on the couch.

"Goodnight, Gir." You smiled, "I'll see you in the morning."

"You have to sleep?" He asked, stopping in mid chip, cheese dripping down his body. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Uhhh…" You pursed your lips, watching the cheese drip. "sure. I don't know if robots have a sleep mode or something."

“I don’t know either.” He got up to go with you but you held your hand up.

“No cheesy robots in bed. Clean up and then you can join me.”

Gir whined but did as you asked, retreating upstairs. When he was all cleaned up, he dived on the bed. Gir tangled himself up in the purple sheets, making himself comfortable. “What do we do when we sleeps?”

You lied next to him on your side. “We usually lie here until our eyes get heavy and we fall asleep.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” 

“...can we get hugs while we sleep?”

“Yeah.” You opened your arms to him. “You shall see that I’m the best cuddler in the world.” Gir giggled, going in your arms. His large head rested above your chest, the cold metallic feel on your body. The metal caused you to shiver, goosebumps forming on your skin.

To your surprise, Gir was fast asleep. You were amazed by how fast a robot could be knocked out just like that. You held onto him tight, listening to the heavy pitter-patter of rain. So calm and peaceful. The bed felt comfy, like a marshmallow. 

  
A quiet chirp occurred from your phone as you saw a text from Dib. 

‘_ So...how about this hurricane, huh?’ _

You chuckled, ‘_ I’m happy it’s here. But I’m stuck at Zim’s house until it’s over.’ _

_ ‘ZIM’S HOUSE????’ _

You rolled your eyes as you heard that text in his voice. _ ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine.’ _

_ ‘Why are you at his house?’ _

_ ‘We have to do an experiment. -_- I totally forgot about it.’ _

_ ‘Watch him. He might put bombs in your body and destroy your organs.’ _

_ ‘Yes, dad.’ _ You scoffed, ‘ _ I’m going to bed now. Night.’ _

_ ‘...night.’ _

When you put your phone away, your mind filled itself with Zim. Your stomach fluttered as you replayed kissing his cheek over and over. You bit your lip as you smiled, his reaction amusing you until he fell down the stairs. You thought about what kissing Zim would be like. How he might surprise you and be a really good kisser. 

Why are you even thinking about kissing him this late at night?

But you couldn’t stop. Kissing’s Zim’s lips and seeing that cute blush that appears when you do something out of the ordinary. How he would hold you close against his body, feeling your curves…

“Go to sleep.” You muttered while shutting your eyes. You had to focus on the task at hand. You were here to create a project with Zim, not smooch him until you’re breathless. Although, that would be nice.

**

The next morning, you woke up to the sweet smell of syrup. Your stomach growled as you sat up, looking next to you to see that Gir was gone. You put on your slippers and head downstairs, not caring about your bed head. In the kitchen, Gir was cooking a bunch of waffles. Zim was there, arm on the table like he was forced against his will.

When he saw you, he felt his cheek before putting his hand down, lips poking out like he was annoyed. 

“About time you woke up.” Zim said. “You humans sleep too long.” 

You checked the time on your phone, barely 8 in the morning. “I’m sorry if I had to get my beauty sleep.” You sat down.”You should try it sometime. Maybe your face will be even more beautiful.”

“Impossible!” He raised his voice, “My face is already beautiful!” You snorted, covering your mouth to keep more laughs from escaping. 

"After breakfast, I'll be yours for a couple of hours." You smiled. Zim glanced at your lips for a few seconds before abruptly slamming his fists on the table.

"Gir! Hurry up with those waffles!"

You two quickly ate breakfast. The waffles had an odd taste to them and you wondered if Gir put some Irken ingredients in. Which could be why Zim was able to eat them. And you were hungry so you didn’t think much into it.

You put your jeans on as you didn't want to work in the lab with no pants. Face cleaned and teeth brushed. Yet you decided to not put on a bra. You didn’t have a good reason, but you were comfortable so why put on a contraption designed to bring less comfort?

As you started the project, Zim told you that he had researched caffeine and the ingredients of energy drinks last night. The project was going to be a piece of cake in your eyes. You just needed test subjects.

"Umm, do you have human subjects stowed away somewhere?"

"Yes, quite a few." Zim said, "How many filthy humans do you need?"

"How many do you have?"

Zim had plenty of humans down in his chamber. Some had appeared to already be experimented on while others were just confused about why they were here. You weren't surprised that Zim kidnapped humans. You just didn't expect so many.

"A nice collection, don't you say?" He laughed.

"Normally I would question why you need so many but this damn project needs to be done so…" You picked a jogger that Zim captured and headed back to the lab.

You and Zim took a total of 5 hours completing the project. Both of you were smart as you tested dosage of caffeine and sugar along with some mysterious Irken ingredients Zim decided to add. Together, you had come up with this orange, fizzy substance. You gave a small drip to some test subjects and watched their reactions. They didn't have a heart attack like some others. And they were able to maintain their energy after those hours had passed. So all and all, you called the project a success.

You held up your hand for a high five, Zim awkwardly high fiving back.

"See, that didn't take too long." You smiled, "Are you happy now?" You said in a high voice like you were talking to a baby.

"Yes, I am satisfied." Zim huffed, "And don't speak to me like that, I am taller than you."

"Hmm, and what does that mean?" You asked with an eyebrow raised. Zim towered over you, trying to spark intimidation in your heart.

"Where I come from, our leaders are taller than all of us. Therefore, I'm taller than you and you have to listen to me." His chest puffed out as you shake your head. You smirked and stood up on your tippy-toes, matching his height.

"There, we're the same height so you can't rule over me." Zim frowned as his spider legs came out, suspending himself over you as he laughed.

"Fool! I bet you can't beat that."

"Gir!" The robot showed up from the hole in the ceiling.

"Yeeeeeeessss?"

"Can you lift me up over Zim please?" 

"Yes, sir!" He boosted you up a few inches taller than Zim. You put your hand on your hips as you sat up with confidence.

"Now, I'm in charge."

"Not fair! Your feet aren't touching!"

"Neither is yours!" 

"Ooh is that a squirrel??" Gir got distracted and immediately zoomed away, causing you to fall into Zim's arms. He caught you, his spider legs retracting as Zim fell to the ground. With you on top. You blushed at the position, waiting for Zim to push you off and scream. 

That didn't happen and you were close. Too close. You felt his hand on the small of his back while your hands were on his chest. And you were back into those deep red eyes again.

Suddenly, Zim's lips were on yours and you froze. He...kissed you first. Before you could do anything, he quickly pulled away, crying out in agony.

"Ugh, ughhhhh humans like doing this?" He shouted, sticking his tongue out. Zim’s flustered face didn't match his words. 

You couldn't speak as you tried to recuperate from what happened. "Uh, y-yeah it's not bad when yo-" Zim's lips were on you again and this time you cupped his face to kiss him back. You never expected his lips to be smooth and you certainly didn't expect him trying to stick his tongue in your mouth.

The second time wasn’t as sloppy as the first so you pulled away and got on your knees, hand on your chest. You could hear your heartbeat against your ears. Zim quickly sat up, face still dark.

"Again." You kissed him again, this time slow and steady. You against his body while gripping the back of his neck. The kiss was tender, slow, and intimate. You wanted to keep kissing him for hours. But you had to breathe so you two pulled away again, eyes lowered in pleasure.

"Where did that come from?" You asked, trying to steady your heart.

"Your lips decided to touch my cheek so I retaliated in touching your lips with mine." His face was still flushed.

"H-How does that make any sense?” You covered your face to shield yourself from the embarrassing conversation. “Kissing someone is not a retaliation move. Unless…" You peeked through your fingers, looking at Zim. "do you like me?"

Zim twiddled his fingers while stammering to come up with an answer. “I appreciate our friendship if that’s what you mean.”

“No… Zim, I know you’re smarter than this.” You said, “You’ve been on Earth long enough to have a basic idea of human emotions.”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE LEARNED!” He jumped up, “How dare you?”

“Stop overreacting.” Your mind was clear enough to have an effective conversation. “I just asked a question.” He didn’t answer your question which made you worry. Worried if you had been crushing on an alien who wasn’t going to budge when feelings came to play. And you wanted to pry but decided not to as your question might’ve scared Zim.

So, you left him down in the lab, going up to the room to play Space Piggies with Gaz on your phone. She hated mobile games as they didn’t provide a real challenge. But Space Piggies had cute pigs so she loved it in a heartbeat. 

You and Gaz weren’t as close as you were with her brother, but she still treated you like family. You weren’t into video games like she was. Besides playing Space Piggies together, you played in a VR world a weekend each month. No one bothered you or even dared to ask any of you for something important during that time. The only times you two stopped playing were to eat, use the bathroom, and shower.

“Heard you were at Zim’s place,” Gaz said since you were on the phone with her. 

“Dib told you?”

“Yep.” She groaned, “Hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

“Mm, I know you won’t care but I kissed Zim and I don’t know what to do.” You blurted out. “I don’t want Dib to know cause he’ll scream in my face.”

“...so wait...you kissed that green idiot?” Gaz wondered, “I kinda want to tell Dib just to see his face.” She chuckled.

“Well, Zim kissed me first…” 

“Oh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah.” A blush crept up on your face, “I think he likes me, but I might’ve scared him away.”

Gaz tsked, not at you but the game as she lost a piggy. “Knowing Zim, he’ll come around and pretend like it never happened.”

Your heart hurt at Gaz’s words. Because she was right. The type of character Zim was, he would pretend that certain things didn’t happen only to not talk about them. You didn’t want that. Talking to him and understanding his emotions would probably make you feel better. Or a helluva lot worse.

After 10 rounds, you stopped playing with Gaz, your stomach doing its usual rounds of needing food. You rolled out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Neither Gir nor Zim was in the living room which made the area quiet. Behind you, the door suddenly opened, rain spraying your back and making you uncomfortable.

You turned at the door only to see Minimoose, floating in and closing the door behind him.

“Nyah!” He greeted, dripping wet. 

“Where were you?” You asked, not seeing the moose since you started skool.

“Nyah.”

“...why underwater?”

“Nyah…”

“Of course, it’s Zim related.” You shake your head.

“MINIMOOSE!” Zim shouted as he came out of the toilet, “I told you to be back by last week! I-er _ Gir _ was getting worried about you.” Minimoose didn’t say anything but booped Zim on his head, the water causing it to sizzle. “Ow! I told you to ** _obey me_ **. Do that again and you’re sleeping in the holo chamber!” 

Minimoose floated away, getting out of sight. Zim said nothing to you as you walked past him, grabbing a snack in his “fridge”. The air was awkward even while you struggled to find something to eat. And you weren’t really the type to break the ice.

“Meet me in the lab tonight, after Gir goes to sleep.” He requested, his voice down to a whisper. You opened your mouth to say something but he shushed you. “Tonight!” He dramatically jumped in the toilet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will only be one update this weekend! I had put all of my energy into this one and it shows by how long it is. I hope you all enjoyed it! I swear I was smiling while writing this chapter.
> 
> Mmm, I'm thinking about changing this to a mature rating cause I have some...limes planned...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are Zim and you a...thing???

Ten minutes to 11 and Gir was restless. He wanted to watch a marathon of Angry Monkey and wouldn’t go to bed until you were finished. As much as you loved Gir, you had somewhere to be. Zim didn’t specify a time for you to go down to the lab but you were restless. You sat on the couch, fidgeting with your hands, brain going a mile away with endless thoughts of why Zim asked for you.

Your stomach churned and you begged for Gir to at least pass out on the couch so you could go see Zim. As if he was your boyfriend. What would he be like? Would he be the same but clingy? Would he be romantic? In his own way?

There’s also the fact of trying new things with him. Getting to see his reaction for the first time. Making you smile. Making him smile. You smiled at the fluffy thoughts, doing your best to not get ahead of yourself. Zim isn’t your boyfriend yet. He’s not.

You glanced over at Gir, who was passed out on the couch. His arm dangled over the couch and his mouth gaped open. Doing a silent fist pump, you slowly got up, making sure Gir didn’t wake up. And you quickly went down to the lab.

Zim stood in front of multiple screens, hands on his hips as if he was posing for your arrival. His head held high and eyes were closed, lips poking out only to add dramatic effect. You bite your lip as you walked up to him.

“Aww, were you waiting for me? Sorry I took too long…” You kicked your feet, hands behind your back as you stared at him. A blush started to take over Zim but he screamed, waving his arms in front of you.

“Do not  _ distract me _ . I have a request.” 

“Uh...what kind?” 

Zim cleared his throat, “I would like to... _ explore _ this relationship as an experiment.”

You squinted at him, “Experiment? We’re not mixing chemicals or giving people diarrhea. These are emotions.  _ Real _ emotions.”

“ _ Exactly _ . I have been experiencing  _ a crush _ on you, y/n.” Zim admitted, making you blush. You stopped yourself from grinning like a dummy as Zim basically confessed his feelings. “I would like to explore this... ** _affection._ ** ” He appeared confused, wondering if he was saying the right words.

“Ah,” You took a deep breath, “I see. Well, if this helps, I’ve been experiencing a crush too. On you…”

“Really?” His eyes lit up, “So you know this feeling? Isn’t it uncomfortable? I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes. Especially when I’m around you.”

“Yes, it’s very uncomfortable but…” You leaned forward, “we can do things to help ease that discomfort.”

“Like?”

“What we did earlier? Kissing? That helps.”

“O-oh.” Zim stared at your lips, “I still think it’s disgusting.”

“But you kissed me like three times. And  _ you  _ initiated it.” You put your hands on your hips, “You secretly liked it, huh?” Zim huffed, rolling his eyes as he didn’t respond. “Mmhm, that was a yes.”

He kissed you, holding you close. You gently gripped his tunic, happily kissing him back. The idea of your relationship being conducted as an experiment made you wary, but the kiss melted your concerns away. You could tell that he was getting better as he didn’t try to shove his tongue down your throat. A small moan escaped your lips, making Zim pull back, startled.

“What was that?”

“It’s a moan, you know? I enjoyed that kiss. Maybe a little too much…”You nervously chuckled. 

“Oh, so I can keep kissing you and you keep making those cat noises?” He asked.

“Cat noises? Cats don’t moan.”

“Isn’t mewling and moaning the same thing?”

“Depends on what you do.” You laughed. “Trust me, you’ll know the difference when you hear it.” 

You yawned, eyes getting heavier as you checked your phone. Almost midnight.

“I’m going to sleep now.” You pulled away from his hold, “Wanna join me? Or will you be working on your plans to annoy Dib on Monday?”

“I don’t sleep.” Zim said, “Irkens don’t need sleep because we’re truly  _ amazing _ .” He gloated. You rolled your eyes.

“You probably don’t need it but it’s nice to close your eyes and relax for a while.” You explained. “And you don’t need to do anything but just lie there.”

Zim scratched his chin, thinking. “No. Another time, perhaps.”

“Aww, okay…” Zim gave you a quick peck on the lips one last time before you went back upstairs.. You practically fell on the bed, grabbing a pillow and squealing into it like a schoolgirl. Does this mean Zim and you are an item? Kind of, since he confessed his feelings. It was hard for you to sleep after that. Your mind was too focused on the fact that you can kiss him. Hug him. Just being with him.

When you wake up, you checked outside and saw light rain. The hurricane was slowly going away, which means you could go home. You took another shower and slipped on Zim’s borrowed tunic. You grabbed your bookbag and went downstairs, getting ready to go. Gir was making waffles in the kitchen again, too enraptured on cooking. 

“I’m getting ready to leave, Gir!” You yelled, “Is Zim down in the-”

“_HOW_ _DARE YOU LEAVE_?!” Zim jumped out of the toilet before marching up to you, “It’s still raining! There’s still a ferocious storm! Who knows how long it’s going to be here so you should just stay with me.”

“Zim, I gotta go home.” You put your hands on his shoulders, “The hurricane is gone and it’s drizzling outside. I’ll be fine.” Zim poked out his lips as he didn’t buy your words. You kissed his forehead to reassure him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah sure, I guess…” You smiled and left, walking home to make sure your parents were okay.

When you walked in, a loud boom occurred. Your ears rang as you groaned at the hearing loss. Your parents came up from the basement, clothes burned and smoke leaving their bodies. Their mouths moved as they were speaking to you, but you couldn’t hear.

“What?”  Another muffled comment.  “WHAT?”

“HOW WAS DIB’S HOUSE?” Your mom shouted. 

“Oh, it was fine.” You shrugged. “We basically watched tv all weekend.” You decided not to tell your parents that you went over Zim’s house only because they didn’t know him as much as they knew Dib and his family. Plus, you didn’t want a bunch of questions of who Zim was and if you two were being appropriate. 

“What was up with smoke?” You gestured to them.

“Oh uh...we were testing certain chemicals on plants. Dangerous chemicals.” Your dad waved it off, “Just don’t go in the basement for a week.”

“Got it.” You went to your room. You weren’t surprised since your parents were both environmental scientists. They’re actually highly respected amongst the scientific community, not on the level as Professor Membrane but enough for them to be busy all the time. You didn’t mind as they checked up on you and gave you what you needed to survive. And you got to use their chemicals for your own projects so win-win.

Posted up in your room, you sent a text to Dib that you were home. And got asked a million questions of what you and Zim did minute by minute to make sure he didn’t lay eggs in you or something. First, they were all texts which turned into a four-hour phone call. Right in the middle of you doing college applications.

“And you’re sure there’s no evidence of him trying to make a comeback?” Dib asked, “No secret plans? Secret weapons?”

“Nah…” You reassured. “I didn’t see anything in Zim’s lab. He only had some captured humans but they were fine.”

“Captured humans?” Dib gasped.

“Yea, but they were  _ fine _ .” Of course, you left out the part where you gave a few people heart attacks. “Dib, chill out. I will let you know if Zim decides that he wants to make giant babies or something. Can we talk about something else, please?” You pleaded, determined to not go crazy over your friend’s obsession with the alien down the block.

“Fine, fine. I gathered more evidence on vampire bees. It was risky, however. Almost got bit. Again.”

“Nice, except for the biting part. Show them to me at skool, okay? I better be amazed by your thesis.”   
“ _ Ha ha _ .” Dib laughed sarcastically, “I will.”

**

The strangest thing happened the next morning. Zim picked you up at your house. He was there in the kitchen, talking to your mom while eating cereal. You, dressed and ready to go, was shocked. 

“Oh, how come you didn’t tell me about Zim, y/n?” Your mother asked, “And here I thought we knew of everyone around the neighborhood.” Zim gave you a large, innocent smile.

“Zim’s been here for a while, mom.” You said, grabbing a box of cereal. “I’ve known him for about six years now.” 

“Oh let me help you with that.” Zim grabbed the milk and gave it to you. He winked at you, making you pause in confusion.

“Well, he’s so nice and helpful too. I mean, look at all of these gadgets he gave us.” She motioned to all of the unknown contraptions in your living room. You noticed one that resembled the large containers Zim kept his human subjects in.

“I just thought I’d show my gratitude to what a  _ wonderful _ daughter you raised.” Zim batted his eyes. You quickly downed your cereal before grabbing Zim and saying goodbye to your parents. Once you got on the ship, you let out a long sigh.

“What was that? Back there?” You questioned, “You never act like that with  _ anyone _ .”

“I researched that when humans date, they meet the mate’s parents and shower them with gifts. Be happy, now you got a vaporizer.”

“What am I supposed to use a vaporizer for?” 

“ **To vanquish your enemies** .” Zim maniacally laughed as he drove.

“Well, thanks.” You poked his side, “That was sweet of you to be respectful to my mom, at least.” 

Zim cleared his throat while blushing. “Don’t thank me. I’m your superior partner.”

As you two arrived at skool, he helped you get out of the vehicle by taking your hand. He didn’t let go of it and you saw that people were starting to look at you. Your new relationship status with Zim quickly got around the school. Teenagers gossiping with one another about not being surprised about the relationship.

“Both of them are weird anyway so they’re perfect for each other.” You heard one say.

Zim didn’t care as he walked next to you with a smile, which you weren’t sure was fake or not.

“What’s your first class?” Zim asked, “I researched that walking the mate to class stimulates affection.”

“Uhh, statistics.” He walked you to class, showing you off whenever anyone looked at you. You weren’t used to the attention, feeling awkward until you got to class. When Dib saw the two of you in class, hands holding and all, he dropped to his knees and screamed to the heavens. Someone wasn’t happy.

“Y/N...and  _ Zim _ ?” Dib questioned, “Am I dead? Am I in an alternate reality where my best friend is dating an alien?”

“No, this is real.” You sighed and helped him stand. “I was gonna tell you but I knew you were gonna act like this.”

“He’s an  _ alien _ !” Dib pointed to Zim, “I’d never thought you’d date an alien, of all paranormal creatures.” 

“What? Said the person that had a small crush on Tak.”

Dib blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I did not.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Jokes on you,  _ Dib _ .” Zim snickered, “I have a girlfriend and you do not!” He maniacally laughed.

You facepalmed, pushing Zim out of the classroom. “I’ll see you at Chemistry, okay?”

“Fine.” He then pointed to his lips, asking for a kiss. You rolled your eyes before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, that’s not what I asked for!”

“You get a kiss when you behave today.” You negotiated, going back in the classroom and sitting next to Dib. He pouted, folding his arms in retaliation. You sighed, playfully nudging him with your elbow. Dib didn’t budge so you poked his side, making him squirm.

“Y/N…” Dib whispered, “stop…”

“Not until you stop having that bad attitude.” You continued poking him, watching him giggle and swat your hands away. 

“How can I when my friend is dating an alien? Who wanted to enslave Earth?”

“Well, Zim is not trying to right now. And he hasn’t for a while.” You told him, “Plus, you still hang out with him and you like all of the weird shit you get into.” Dib nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll be fine. If anything goes wrong, I’ll let you lend my vaporizer and you can shoot Zim yourself.”

“Deal.” Dib paused, “Wait, since when did you have a vaporizer?”

"Since this morning.” You sighed. “Zim gave me one when he picked me up.”

Neither of you paid attention in class. Instead, you were focusing on Dib’s quiet, 30-minute lecture of how vampire bees will drastically rise in the population in 5 years or so. And in that time, the human population would be infected by at least 25%. A fascinating lecture, that made your stat class breeze by. 

Chemistry was okay. Mr. Zinc wasn’t here after his apartment flooded from the hurricane, but the substitute gave you all A’s just for showing up. You were a bit peeved since you worked hard for a project no one will ever see, but Zim tried to reassure you that he’ll just use it for a future human experiment. Which didn’t help at all.

So you were bummed out for the rest of the day, not in the best mood when skool was over. Zim decided to take you home despite the fact you felt like walking. And you weren’t talkative for part of the ride, which left an awkward silence.

“Why is your face pathetic?” Zim asked, “Are you still thinking about chemistry?”

“Yeah…”You groaned.

“I told you I was gonna use it for human experiments.” 

“I know, but I wanted to show off the project we made together…” You huffed, “It was really fun…” 

Zim sucked his teeth, “There will be other,  _ better  _ times to gloat. So stop being mopey.” He stopped in front of your house as you sat there like a stubborn baby. You didn’t meet his eyes as you prepared to get out of the ship.   
“Thanks for dropping me off. I’l-”

“WAIT!” Zim stopped you by grabbing your hand. He replaced his hand with a round, metallic ball that had a few buttons on the side. “Take this communicator.”

“I have a phone.” You commented as you looked at it.

“Phones are USELESS! Just use this communicator if you...want to... _ talk. _ ” He rubbed his hands together, blushing.

“Talk?” 

“Yes.”

You stared at the device, giving a small smile. “Okay. Thanks.” You gave him a peck on the lips, quickly leaving out before he could react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No lime in this one, sorry! But there is a possibility for a double update so be ready in a couple of days!
> 
> I really hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter too! I'm really enjoying myself and I keep blushing at my own words lol. Let me know if you loved it or not!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh? Looks like someone is going on a date.

“Y/N-mate!” Zim yelled.

You screamed at your locker, grabbing a pencil and holding it up to stab him with it. A sigh escaped your lips when you saw him, dropping the pencil. “Can you not do that next time?”

“I apologize,” Zim quickly said, “but this is urgent.”

“Are you trying to get me to come over to your house again?” You questioned with a smirk while he blushed. 

“No. Let’s go on a date.”

The comment took you off guard. A date. With Zim.

“W-What?”

“Do your earholes work?!” Zim waved his arms, “You know, those activities that include feeding each other food and kissing.”

“Okay, a date has more than that. And it’s something simple as spending time with one another.”

“Oh. So, if we were to go on one right now...would you say yes?” Zim leaned forward, hands behind his back.

“I would but we currently have skool so-” He held up his hand while giving a mischievous smile. 

“Leave that to me.” Then he was off. You wondered what he was up to but best to be surprised and figure it out later. 

An announcement ran on the intercom and hour later. “Everyone, we have received word that we’re scheduled for a field trip today. The entire school is going except for uh, two students. Zim and y/n. Thank you.” 

  
Students in your English class muttered as they walked by. Obviously, this was Zim doing. When everyone filed out, you sat at your desk, unsure if you should get up and leave or stay.

“I guess I’ll go-”

“Y/N, quickly!” Zim zoomed in the classroom and grabbed your hand. “I made sure we had time for our date so come on!” He started to pull you along, frantic.

“Did you really send the entire school on a field trip?”

“Yes, genius isn’t it?” He snickered.

“Well, I have to admit, that is pretty cool.” You complimented. Zim let out a little ‘heh’, which made you squeeze his hand.

Your phone buzzed when you got on the ship, seeing a text from Gaz.

‘_ Tell Zim thanks for getting me out of that biology test’ _

“Gaz thanks you for getting her out of her biology test.”

“I didn’t do it for the Dib-sister but she better _ worship me _.” Zim chuckled.

“Where are we going?” You asked while looking out the window. “Did you plan this out?”

“Of course! Zim plans for everything!” He accelerated and took off, having you grip the seat. Your heart pounded against your chest as he swerved around traffic, almost creating a bunch of car crashes. Zim shouted at the oncoming cars, telling them to move or he’ll blow them up. All while you were hoping that your guardian angel won’t let you die.

Why do you keep getting on the ship with him?

A sudden stop made you dive forward, hitting your head. You struggled to get up, holding your head as you saw the park. 

“Huh? I never expected the park.”

“Eh? Zim is insulted!” He jumped out of the ship, pretending to be mad by scowling. But he held out his hand to help you out. 

“I’m just saying, out of all places, I’d never expect the park.” You gently rubbed your thumb on his hand. “But I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Turns out, he didn’t have anything planned. An hour was spent on finding a good place to sit and even then, Zim wasn’t satisfied. He kept saying how he wanted no one to disturb you two while the date was happening. 

You had to stop him when you found a perfectly shaded area under a tree. Just to make the situation even more cliche. It was a nice area. A large tree, short grass decorated with multicolored leaves. Zim stopped you and pulled out a blanket from his pak. He set it down before dramatically motioning for you to take a seat.

You invited Zim to rest on your lap, making him blush as he obliged. 

A cool breeze caressed your bodies, making you shiver a little in your sweater. Fall was beautiful with the colorful leaves and the lowered temperature. You watched people walk along in their warm attire, talking amongst themselves and laughing. Having a great time. You relaxed against the tree bark, running your hands through Zim’s wig. There was a faint outline of his antennae underneath. He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but his calm purring was clear enough that he enjoyed your rubs.

Your eyes downcast, gazing at this alien who was putty in your hands. Zim’s eyes lowered in bliss, moving his head a little to make sure you get his sweet spot. 

“You’re really cute.” Zim perked up at the compliment, looking up towards you.

“Zim is not cute. I’m dashing, incredulous,”

  
“Amazing, bodacious, yes you are those too.” You kissed his forehead. “Reasons why I like being around you.” Even when you two weren’t dating, Zim was still an interesting being to be around. He was a little annoying, yes, but he stood out with any and everything that he did.

Zim nuzzled on your tummy, “Of course, that's why I'm wonderful.”

“You are.” Your other hand intertwined with his as you sat there for a while. Although, a growl erupted. A blush formed on your face as it happened again. 

“You’re hungry.” 

“Yeah, you took me out before I could have lunch.” Your stomach cosigned with another growl.

“Your mate shall feed you!” He hopped up, grabbing your hand to get you something to eat. You could barely keep up and stumbled over your feet while trying to catch up. He looked all over the park to find you food like you were a pet.

“Zim, we could just go to Bloaty’s.” You suggested when he stopped. “It’s down the street from here.”

“Oh. Right.” Zim pulled you along again. At this rate, you felt like he was going to rip your arm off. Your stomach roared when you went inside the pizza parlor, demanding that you put food inside or else. Luckily, there wasn’t a long wait as you quickly got some delicious pizza. You thought you wouldn’t be craving any after that incident with the monster almost two months ago.

But here you are, stuffing a slice of pizza in your mouth. Classy. 

Zim wasn’t eating and you felt like an idiot as you were stuffing your face. “Shit, I forgot you can’t really have pizza.” 

“Your human food is disgusting anyway so I’ll just eat at my base.” He pushed the pizza dish with his finger and allowed you to eat. 

“But yet, you eat candy.” You chuckled, “Along with donuts. Any junk food, really.” You had observed Zim’s eating habits when you went over his house or when he brought his lunch. All of it junk. 

“Are you _ mocking _ my eating habits?” Zim huffed while you rolled your eyes.

“No, my great Irken. I would _ never.” _A piece of pepperoni fell from your slice but Zim snatched it, laughing.

“Ha! I took your meat slice! _ What are you gonna do about it? _” He stuck his tongue out like a baby. But you shrugged and took another slice.

Feeling full and a little sluggish, you decided to walk off the slices of pizza. Instead of Zim pulling you along, you pulled him to a bakery that was a few blocks away from Bloaty’s. You felt bad that he wasn’t able to eat, so you wanted to treat him.

He was confused. Zim asked you questions of where you were gonna take him. Repeatedly. His questions were getting annoying. So when you weren’t too far from the bakery, you planted a surprise kiss on his lips, getting him to shut up. Zim covered his mouth, face a dark green while his eyes widened. You couldn’t help but laugh as you walked inside.

Despite the disgusting atmosphere of Bloaty’s, the Bakery had a warm, comforting one. The scent of fresh-baked bread hits your nostrils, making you feel like you just stepped on a different planet. Cases of cookies, cupcakes, cakes, surrounded you and Zim. And at the register was a tall woman in a cupcake apron who clearly looked like she didn’t want to be here.

“Why are we here?” Zim asked, staring at the cupcakes in the case.

“Well, I know you eat sweet things and junk so I wanted to take you here and get you something to eat. You couldn’t eat the pizza and you haven’t had lunch yet so…” You twiddle your thumbs, motioning for him to pick out what he wanted.

“I told you I was fine.” Zim folded his arms but didn’t stop looking at the sweets available.

“And you lied.” 

  
Zim scoffed before pointing at the cupcake. A chocolate one, with purple frosting on top and sprinkles. You told the woman that you wanted four of them, so Zim could have some leftovers or even share one with Gir and Minimoose. You started to pull out your wallet when Zim slapped your hand.

“No! I’ll pay!” Zim insisted.

“Why? You paid for lunch and this is my treat to yo-”

“I didn’t ask you, _ y/n _. It’s my job to provide.” He held his head up high. 

You shake your head. “Just let me treat you.” You pushed him away and paid for the cupcakes. Zim scowled and didn’t stop when you walked back to his ship. He still had his frowny face while he ate his cupcake.

**

Stopping in front of your house, you sighed as you didn’t want to leave. Zim stopped being mad at you after eating two cupcakes. 

“We should have another date again.” He announced. 

“Okay. When?”

“When I’ll let you know, y/n.” Zim huffed, making you smile a little. You leaned in, cupping his face before kissing him. His hand went to the small of your back, holding you tight in the embrace. Zim gripped your shirt not wanting to let you go. 

Pulling away, you rubbed your nose on his face, giving one last kiss on his forehead. You waved at him as he left, heart fluttering. You had just gotten out of the ship and you already miss him. Your whole feelings for Zim started to develop further. You didn’t stop thinking about him and your grades started to slip because of it.

But you wanted to do more with him. Sometimes, being far away from him destroyed you. And when he was by your side, your stomach wouldn’t stop being filled with butterflies. 

Nothing was wrong with you. But yet, your feelings didn’t stop. When you saw Zim, you wanted to blurt out your feelings. Were you falling in love, perhaps? Your crush developed into a reasonable sense of love and longing for the alien. The problem was, did Zim feel the same way?

Your mind wouldn’t let you forget the fact that your relationship was an experiment. That will end at some point. And you didn’t want it to end. 

Winter break was coming up and so were college application deadlines. Instead of hanging out with your friends, you were focused on getting your college applications in. You didn’t have a lot, just two that would fit for you. One was online, so you could easily take classes in your home without worrying about commuting or leaving your friends behind. Your only problem was that you weren’t keen on the idea of learning in your house. With how your parents would constantly blow stuff up. 

The second college choice was in the city. In the heart of it. Nice sized campus and wasn’t too far away from your friends or family. There was no point in getting a dorm there as you practically lived 20 mins away from campus. But you thought about getting an apartment nearby and you still haven’t figured out the details of commuting.

Regardless, you had a lot of stuff to do. Along with making sure your grades were college-level acceptable, you ran around getting college recommendations and making sure your essays were fantastic. Your mind pushed away any thoughts of you getting rejected by Zim if you confessed. Not the best idea, but the problem was pushed away for a little while.

Dib and Gaz were fine with your busy schedule. He did occasionally send you texts, wondering if you weren’t busy enough to at least watch Mysterious Mysteries with him at his house. Sometimes you would accept, needing a break. Other times you were too busy. Gaz took you out of your world for a minute when she asked you to come with her to the new Game Slave release since she didn’t want Dib to come with.

Zim was miserable. He wanted you to go over his house. Or at least on a date. As much as you wanted to go, you declined. You were avoiding him. You thought that it was fine as the relationship wasn’t real. That the entire thing was just a little project. 

Everything was painful. Looking at him was heartbreaking. Anxiety caught up to you and constantly told you he doesn’t feel the same way. That the amount of love you have for Zim doesn’t match his. You wanted to rip your heart out. To not feel anything. All because you were afraid.

A week before the break started, you had finished up your applications. It was midnight and your parents had just left for a science convention. So you were home alone for the weekend. A weight lifted off your chest once you turned the applications in, a sigh escaping. Time to get a snack. 

Going downstairs, you heard a crash. You jumped, staring at the door while hearing a loud scream. Suddenly the door was kicked down, only to see Zim with his chest heaving.

"Oh, hey." You gave a small wave, ignoring the door. "What's up?"

"_ What's up? _" Zim huffed, "What is up is the fact that you are ignoring me!" He yelled. "You have declined my requests to come over to my domain, avoided my presence in the hallway, AND not picking up my communicator calls." Zim stomped towards you. 

You bit the inside of your cheek. “What? That doesn’t mean I’m ignoring you. I was just…” You murmured, trying to come up with a response.

“JUST NOTHING!” Zim shouted, “YOU ARE AVOIDING ME!” His eyes, a little crazy, bored into your soul. Despite the dumb things he did from time to time, Zim wasn't stupid. He was right.

"I-I can explain." Your body shook from the adrenaline, getting closer to him. 

"None of your nonsense explanations will be enough. Maybe this _ relationship _ was a mistake." Zim turned his back to you. And your mind panicked. You didn't want what you had to be over. You wanted to be with him.

"Wait, Zim…" You grabbed his hand but he snatched it away. "It's not a mistake. I was afraid."

"Afraid? A pathetic excuse for someone I thought was smarter than that." He huffed. "You humans are always the same." Zim prepared to take his leave, ready to end it all. But he hesitated, lingering by the door like he was waiting.

An unbelievable feeling came over you. Your legs, shaking with fear, moved as you tackled him to the floor. You weren't gonna let him leave, all because of your mistake. 

"Ah! What are y-" Zim struggled underneath you. "Release me!"

"Not until you hear me out!" Tears welled in your eyes, pinning him down. It's now or never. "Zim, remember when you...when you told me how you were experiencing a crush?"

Zim, who gave up struggling, let out a drawn-out sigh. "Yes."

"I've been having this feeling that’s...worse." You sat up, straddling him. "I've been thinking about you. I can't stop. My heart goes crazy and I don't want to leave your side. And the world seems ok when I'm with you and I want this to last forever…" 

"Were you hypnotized by my magnificent being?" Zim interrupted, giving a smirk.

“Zim…” You paused, slowly exhaling. “I'm in love with you. I guess it's like being hypnotized but I want to be with you and only you. You're wonderful." 

Zim, who rarely made eye contact when feelings occurred, couldn't stop looking at you. The tears that streamed down your face, to the position you're in. You couldn't believe that you confessed, expecting yourself to take your feelings to the grave. A heavyweight lifted off your chest when you finally told him.

"At least I know you won't betray me." He scoffed. "And you think I'm wonderful." Zim winked as you playfully rolled your eyes.

"I'm sorry about avoiding you. That wasn't right." You grabbed his hands. "I'll make it up to you."

"I'm a very hard alien to impress, y/n. Minimoose tried and even he didn't succeed." 

You laughed, kissing his forehead. A quick smile formed on Zim’s face, but it was gone in an instant. “Get off of me, you’re crushing my squeedlyspooch.” He gently pushed you off of him. An intense breeze shot down your neck and you looked back at the front entrance. Oh yeah, your door blew off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry, this took me a while to post. On top of school work, I was getting a little writer's blocked. I finally found what I wanted to write but I was kinda stressing about it. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed it! <3


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